Make Your Own Easter Egg Dye Using Vegetable Scraps!

I tried multiple veggies before settling on four that made the beautiful colors on the eggs pictured above.

Supplies Needed:

You really don’t need a lot for this project. Here’s the list!

White eggs

White vinegar

The peels and seeds of three avocados

The skins of three yellow onions

The ends, stems and scrap pieces of three to four beets

The outer leaves of a large purple cabbage

Glass jars

A strainer

Cups to dip the eggs in

Something to dip the eggs with

Step One: Boil Eggs

Boil your Easter eggs. Boil your eggs in a large pot for about 10-12 minutes. Remove from burner and allow them to cool slightly before dipping them out of the water with a slotted spoon. Let them sit and dry while you complete the following steps!

Step 2: Make the Dye

Next you are going to gather your veggie scraps. Make sure that they are rinsed and clean.

Especially take the time to scrub the avocado peels and seeds so that you don’t end up with avocado chunks in your dye!

Add each veggie scrap pile to its own saucepan along with a cup of water and a cup and a half of vinegar. Simmer this mixture covered for about an hour. You will have to continue adding equal parts water and vinegar as the liquid evaporates.

I will warn you that this doesn’t smell the greatest, unless you love the smell of vinegar. If that’s the case then you will love it! Lol

Step 3: Strain the liquid

After you have simmered your veggie scraps for about an hour you will then need to strain the liquid from the scraps.

Make sure that you have enough liquid to cover an egg in whatever container you are using. If it’s not enough, add some more vinegar and water to the scraps and simmer a little while longer.

You can either use your dye immediately or store it in glass jars in the fridge for a few days. However, if you refrigerate the dye you will need to heat it before using as the dye works best when warm.

Step 4: The Fun Part!

Now it’s time to dye the eggs! Gather four small containers to dye your eggs in.

Add your warm dye to your containers and carefully dip an egg into the dye.

Repeat by adding eggs to the other colors. Check your eggs, leaving them until they’ve reached the desired shade of color.

For example, by leaving some eggs in longer than others I was able to make the colors yellow, orange and brown by using just the onion dye.

The following pictures show the colors that can be made by using these four dyes:

I did experiment with other veggies and fruits, trying to make additional colors. But the following did not dye the eggs as well: Orange peels, carrot peels and spinach leaves.

If you experiment with other types of fruits and veggies and have success please comment and let us know!

Also, feel free to experiment with different colored eggs! I used only white eggs, but if you are using fresh eggs from your own chickens, see what colors you can make by starting out with brown or blue eggs!

Please share pictures of your finished Easter eggs with me! You can either email me, or tag me on Instagram or Facebook! I can’t wait to see your beautiful, natural Easter eggs!

Tips For Success!

Here are some tips that will help you to create beautiful eggs:

Heat the dye before using.

Dip the egg in vinegar for a few minutes before adding the egg to the dye. (Some store bought eggs contain wax and the vinegar seems to remove any coatings from the egg as well as open the pores of the egg so that it can absorb the dye.)

Wipe the egg off after dipping it in the vinegar to remove any wax coating on the egg before coloring.

Color an egg, let it dry, and then dip it in for another coat to create a darker color! (I found this especially helpful when coloring eggs blue in the cabbage dye. They seemed to get darker by doing multiple coats than they did when I just left it in the dye for a long time once.)

Mix colors! Make new colors by dying an egg in one color, lettting it dry, and then dipping it in another color.

Hi! I'm Meghan

Certified Holistic Aromatherapist, Certified Health Coach, owner of Healing Blends For Life and full time homeschooling mother of four. I am obsessed with healthy organic living and with being as self-sufficient as possible. And yes, as the name of my blog implies I also raise dairy goats as a part of my self-sufficient healthy lifestyle!
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